Expanding tool with automatic reset



June 17, 1958 R. MOCK EIAL EXPANDING TOOL WITH AUTOMATIC RESET HH ll /7INVENTOR; LUTHER RoY Mocn H IHII Fiied Sept. 28, 1953 United StatesPatent r EXPANDING TooL wrrH AUTOMATIC RESET Luther Roy Mock and Eldo K.Koppelmann, Moherly,

Mo., assignors to Madison-Faessler Tool Co., a corporation of MissouriApplication September 28, 1953, Serial No. 382,691

6 Claims. ((31. 153-.-82)

The invention pertains to an expanding tool such as may be used forexpanding boiler tubes in tube sheets, and for similar purposes. Moreparticularly, the tool of this invention is adapted for expandingsealing caps such as are inserted in holes in the cylinder block of aninternal combustion engine.

An object of this invention is to provide such a-tool which iscompletely automatic in its action to expand the tube or cap to apredetermined extent, and automatically release and reset itself aftersuch expansion.

Another object it to provide such a tool which may be manipulated tohold a cap which is loose in its hole so as to initiate the expandingoperation.

In accordance with this invention, generally stated, an expanding toolof the well-known roller type is provided in which a tapered mandrel itfitted to a set of planetary rollers to cause expansion of the latterwithin the tube or cap to be expanded. The mandrel is provided with athread on which is threaded a release element having a clutch facewhich, upon movement of said mandrel by the rollers, brings the clutchface into engagement with a complementary face on the cage, whichcarries the expanding rollers. Upon such engagement, the retardation ofthe releasing element causes relative movement between it and themandrel in such a direction that the thread engagement between the twocauses retraction of the mandrel so as to disengage the same from therollers. A stop member is further provided which may be adjusted alongthe mandrel, and a torsion spring is connected between said stop memberand said release element. When the release element engages the cage,this spring is wound up so as to produce a torque between the stopmember and the release element. As soon as the mandrel is retractedsufiiciently to relieve its pressure on the rollers, thereby relievingthe forward thrust of the mandrel created by the self-feedingcharacteristic of the tool, the pressure between the clutch faces,produced by that thrust, is also relieved, so that the release elementis free to move on the mandrel thread. The torque of the springthereupon causes said element to rotate back to its original position toreset it for the next operation.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section of an expanding tool embodyingthis invention shown in its starting position at the beginning of theoperation of expanding a p;

Fig. 2 is a similar sectional view showing the parts in their finalposition at the end of the expanding operation and just as the mandrelis about to be released; and

Fig. 3 is a left-hand end view of the tool.

Referring now to the drawing, 1 designates a cage havingperipherally-arranged slots in which are housed expanding rollers 2. Anynumber of rollers may, of course, be used, only one of the same beingshown in Figs. 1 and 2. The cage 1 has a bore 3 in which a mandrel 4 ismovable, said mandrel having a tapered end 2,839,121 Patented June 17,1958 ice portion 5 engageable with the rollers 2 so that by moving themandrel toward the left, Figs. 1 and 2, the rollers 2 are caused toexpand in a manner well-known in the art. The mandrel 4 is provided withan enlarged flange 6, and beyond said flange with a thread 7, and at itsend with a shank 8 adapted for coupling the mandrel to a suitabledriving device such as a motor, a hand crank, or even a wrench. Threadedon the inner end of the cage 1 is a collar 9 having a bore in which theflange 6 of the mandrel is movable and an internal end shoulder 10adapted to engage the flange 6 to limit the outward movement of themandrel.

Threaded on the thread 7 of the mandrel is a release element 11 havingan internal tapered clutch face 12 adapted for engagement with acomplementary face 13 on the collar 9 when the release element is movedtoward said collar by the action of the rollers. Also threaded on thethread 7 is a stop member in the form of a nut 14. This nut may beprovided with a set screw 15 and a binding plug 16 whereby the nut 14may be fixed to the mandrel after adjustment thereof along the mandrelby rotation on the thread 7. The nut has a recess adapted to receive ahub 17 on the release element 11, the engagement of said hub with theend of the recess serving to fix the initial or starting position ofsaid release element. The nut 14 is provided with a flange 18 normallyextending over the rear portion of the release element 11 as shown inFig. 1, thereby forming between the nut 14 and said element a chamber19. Housed in the chamber 19 is a coil spring 29 arranged to extendaround the hub 17. One end of said spring is secured by a set screw 21to the nut 14, and the other end is similarly secured by a set screw 22to the release element 11.

Arranged to surround the cage 1 is a collar or barrel 23 having aninternal flange 24 fitted behind a shoulder 25 of the cage 1 so thatsaid barrel may be used as a handle to insert the tool into the cap 26which is to be expanded in the wall 27 of an engine block, said caphaving a flange 2S engaging the outside of the wall 27. A ball bearing29 may be inserted between the flange 24 and the collar 9 as shown inFigs. 1 and 2. As shown in Fig. 1, the collar 23 is extended to theright sulficiently to cover the gap between the clutch faces 12 and 13,so that when grasping the collar by hand it will not be possible topinch the hand between these faces.

. The outside of the collar 23 may be knurled or other wise roughened tofacilitate holding the same.

' purpose.

In the operation of this device, the stop member or nut 14- is firstadjusted along the thread 7 to such a point as to set the desired limitof expansion of the rollers 2. A suitable index, not shown, may beprovided for this The nut 14 having been adjusted and fixed, the spring20 keeps the release element 11 in engagement therewith, as shown inFig. l. The cap 25 having been inserted in the hole in the wall 27, thetool is inserted into the cap as shown. The setting is usually such thatthe rollers 2 make contact with the interior of the cap. The mandrel 4may then be rotated by any suitable means. The engagement of the taperedend 5 with the rollers 2 causes the latter to rotate. The rollers 2 areset in the cage 1 with their axes at a slight angle to the axis of themandrel so that this rolling action will cause the mandrel to be drawnin between the rollers in a manner well-known in the art.

It sometimes happens that the cap 26 is a loose fit in the hole, andinstead of the rollers rolling in the cap, the cap rotates with therollers and the self-feeding action stops. To provide for such a case,the end surface 30 of the collar 23 is knurled to roughen it.Accordingly, by forcing the collar 23 against the flange 28 of the cap,the latter may be held stationary until the tool.

rollers 2 began to roll and expand thecap sufficiently to tighten in thehole. Thereafter, the rolling operation will proceed in the usualmanner.

However, in instances where the tube hole is considerably oversized, thecap will be 'free to rotate in the hole and there will be no bindingaction at-all. In this instance, this would be the cycle of operation:The cage and roll assembly is placed in the cap and the mandrel isbrought slightly forward, engaging them with slight pressure and causingthem to rotate, which in turn causes the cage to rotate. The rolls nowbegin to tighten in the cap and if there is no restraining force to keepthe cap from rotating, it will start to rotate with the cage and rollassembly. When this happens, movement of the mandrel to the leftunderneath the rolls will cease, and the whole assemblywill be rotatingat the speed of rotation of the mandrel. When this occurs, it is merelynecessary to grasp the thrust collar by hand to stop it from rotating,and to exert a slight forward thrust so that the knurled face of thethrust collar will contact the skirt on the cap causing its speed ofrotation to'be slowed down relative to the speed of rotation of the Atthe instant that this happens, the mandrel will again start to feed tothe left under the rolls and the rolls will start to exert increasedpressure in the caps. Simultaneous with this, the self-feedingcharacteristic of the tool will cause the cap to be drawn further backon to the tool and there will be such a heavy thrust created between theskirt of the cap and the knurled surface of the thrust collar thatfurther rotation of the cap will be impossible. The tool will thencomplete its cycle of expanding the cap in the hole.

As the mandrel is drawn to the left in Fig.1 by the rolling action, therelease element 11 is, of course, carried along with it so that itapproaches the collar 9. After a predetermined travel, represented bythe distance AB, Fig. l, the clutch face 12 of the release element 11engages the face 13 of the collar 9. When the clutch face 12 of therelease element 11 has engaged the face 13 of the collar 9, the cap 26will have been expanded to a predetermined intervaldiameter, and the jobwill have been finished. Because the rollers will be in tight engagementwith the cap 26 and'the action of the rollers, being at a slight angle,causes the mandrel to continue feeding to the left, the tool will betightly engaged in the hole. At this point, the release element 11 comesinto operation to withdraw the mandrel'to the right (in the relationshipas shown in the drawings), thereby causing the rollers to collapsesufficiently to permit the tool to be readily removed from the hole. Theaction of the release element 11 is now described.

When the tool has reached the position shown in Fig. 2, and as justdescribed, the cage will be moving at a rate I of rotation much lessthan that of the mandrel, because of the planetary relationship of therollers, as is well understood in the art. In a typical embodiment, thecage 1 will rotate at only approximately one-third the rate of themandrel 4. Then, since the release element is in clutch engagement withthe cage, the threaded engagement between the release element 11 and thethread 7 on the mandrel will cause the mandrel to be backed away to theright. This will occur because of the direction of the thread 7 inrelation to the direction of the rotation of the mandrel 4. This is tosay, for right hand rotation of the mandrel 4, left hand thread 7 isprovided. It will be apparent, of course, that these directions can bereversed if desired.

By the operation of the release element 11, just described, pressurebetween the rollers'and the work will be relieved as 'Well as thepressure between the mandrel and therollers.

At the moment when-this pressure is released, the forward thrust of themandrel ceases, and simultaneously the thrust between the faces 12 and'13 ceases." At this instant, the element 11 is now free to turn on thethread 7 and under the torque delivered by spring 20 it will be rotatedback to its original position as shown in Fig. 1, and after such return,the tool is reset for another similar operation. Since the tool isreleased from engagement with the cap, it can be withdrawn from the cap.7

It will be seen that by adjustment of the nut 14 along the thread 7, theextent of travel AB maybe varied to suit the job in hand. The greaterthe length of this travel, the greater will be the expansion of therollers'2. Also, once the nut 14 is fixed in position on the mandrel,each operation will cause expansion of therollers 2 to the same finaldiameter before release occurs. Accordingly,

each successive operation is an exact duplicate of preceding ones. e

It will be seen that this invention provides a tool in which asuccession of identical expanding operations may be carried out rapidly,and with precision, even by unskilled operators. Accordingly, the toolis well adapted for operation on a production line basis where manyidentical operations must be performed at a high rate of speed. A, g

Various changes may be made inthe detailsof construction, within thescope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of thisinvention. Parts of the invention may be used without the wholeandimprovements may be added while retaining ,someor all of the advantagesof the invention.

We claim:

1. In an expanding tool of the character described having a roller cage,expandingrollers mounted therein, and a tapered rotary mandrel engagingsaid rollers, the

rollers being arranged in planetary relation to said mandrel to feed themandrel axially to expand the rollers; a release element movablythreaded on said mandrel'and having a clutch face engageable with acomplementary face of said cage, and resilient means connected betweensaid release element and said mandrel operating to oppose rotarymovement of said release element relative to said mandrel, the releaseelement being movable axially with said mandrel to cause engagement ofsaid clutch faces; whereby said release element rotates on its threadrelatively to said mandrel against the loading of said resilient meansto release the mandrel from the rollers,

whereuponsaid resilient means will rotate said release element to itsoriginal position on said mandrel.

2. In an expanding tool of the character described having a roller cage,expanding rollers mounted therein, and a tapered rotary mandrel engagingsaid rollers, the rollers being arranged in planetary relation to saidmandrel to feed the mandrel axially to expand the rollers, the man drelhaving a thread; a stop member threaded on said mandrel for adjustmenttherealong, means for locking said member in adjusted position, arelease-element movably threaded on said mandrel and having a clutchface engageable with a complementary face of said cage, and resilientmeans connected between said release element and said stop memberoperating to oppose rotary movement of said release element relative. tosaid mandrel, the release element being movable axially with saidmandrel to cause engagement of said clutch faces, the adjusted positionof the stop member determining the axial travel of said release elementand mandrel; whereby mutual engagement of said clutch faces will causesaid release element to rotate on its thread relatively to said mandrelagainst loading of said resilient means to release the mandrel from therollers, whereupon saidresilient means will rotate said release elementto its original position on said mandrel. V

3.1m an expanding tool of thecharacter described having a rollercage,expanding rollers mounted therein, and

a tapered rotary mandrel engaging. said rollers to feed the mandrelaxially and to expand the rollers; a release element movably threaded onsaid mandrel and having a clutch face engageable with a complementaryface of said cage, the release element being movable axially with saidmandrel upon mandrel rotation to cause engagement of said clutch faces,and a torsion spring anchored to said mandrel and connected to saidrelease element to oppose rotary movement thereof on its thread and toreturn the same to its original position after such movement.

4. In an expanding tool of the character described having a roller cage,expanding rollers mounted therein, and a tapered rotary mandrel engagingsaid rollers to feed the mandrel axially and to expand the. rollers; arelease element movably threaded on said mandrel and having a clutchface engageable with a complementary face of said cage, a torsion springconnected to said release element, and anchoring means for said springadjustable axially on said mandrel, the release element being movableaxially with said mandrel upon mandrel rotation to cause engagement ofthe clutch faces, the adjusted position of said anchoring meansdetermining the axial travel of said release element and mandrel, saidspring being connected to oppose rotary movement of said release elementon its thread and to return the same to its original position after suchmovement, said release element being rotatable on its thread relative tosaid mandrel against spring loading upon engagement of the clutch facesto release the mandrel from said'rollers.

5. In an expanding tool of the character described having a roller cage,expanding rollers mounted therein, and a tapered rotary mandrel engagingsaid rollers to feed the mandrel axially and to expand the rollers, themandrel having a thread, a stop member adjustable to a fixed position onsaid mandrel, a release element threaded on said mandrel adjacent saidmember and having a clutch face engageable With a complementary face ofsaid cage, parts of said member and said element overlapping to formtherebetween a chamber, and a torsion spring connected between saidmember and said element and housed in said chamber arranged to opposerotary movement of said release element on its thread, the releaseelement being movable axially with said mandrel to cause engagement ofthe clutch faces so that the release element will rotate on its threadrelative to said mandrel against spring loading to release said mandrelfrom said rollers, the spring returning it to its original position onsaid mandrel after release of said mandrel.

6. A cap-expanding tool of the character described, comprising, a rollercage, expanding rollers mounted therein, a tapered rotary mandrelengaging said rollers to feed the mandrel axially to expand the rollers,the mandrel having a thread, a stop member adjustable to a fixedposition on said mandrel, a release element threaded on said mandreladjacent said member and having a clutch face engageable with acomplementary face of said cage, a resilient torsion element attached tosaid stop member and to said release element, the release element beingaxially movable with said mandrel upon mandrel rotation to causeengagement of said clutch faces so that the release element rotates onits thread relative to said mandrel against loading of said resilientelement to release the mandrel from said rollers, the resilient elementreturning the release member to its original position after release ofsaid mandrel, and a thrust sleeve in which said cage is revolublymounted, said sleeve having a barrel providing a hand-grip and extendingover said cage and said release element to prevent engagement of agripping hand therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,410,464 Gallan Mar. 21, 1922 2,085,447 Plaine June 29, 1937 2,649,889Dudley Aug. 25, 1953

